07 Apr hav(h)arot

Live-electronics interface / work. The design was inspired by analogue tape (reel-to-reel) composition techniques as well as by granular synthesis processing.

The digital interface is used for real-time processing. It follows my finger’s movements and pressure (playing a touch-sensitive MIDI controller), controlling the sound-processing parameters while displaying the movement on the graphical user interface (GUI).

hav(h)arot renders visible the physicality of computer performance – a performative aspect which is often lost in computer music settings. Beside displaying the finger movements, the GUI also highlights parts of the digital buffer used for processing, thus drawing the attention to the source material (the digital sample / audio wave). I wanted to afford a glimpse into the otherwise hidden digital technology, also for the audience during the performance (projecting the GUI while playing).

The main use of hav(h)arot is to work with voice samples, thus putting the focus of this work on speech and on language (though any kind of sound can loaded of course). Working with spoken material allows me to cut sentences and words into syllables, consonants and vowels, or even smaller speech particles – on the verge of our sonic perception. The result is a continuous interplay between semantic content—“meaning”—and sonic experience.

I wanted to create an interface with which I can work with politically charged material: news and media reports, politician’s speeches, current affairs, etc. Sound bites of a world that needs mending, collected from social media channels – our digital town square or modern public space, and a highly polarised political and ideological echo chamber. Taking the original material out of its normal context—decontextualizing it— provides an opportunity to deconstruct it and (re-)listen with fresh ears. This is indicated by the title of this work, which carries a double meaning in Hebrew: syllables (havarot, הברות) and clarifications (hav’harot, הבהרות).

Some recordings in which I play the interface:

Live at Vrooom, Klooster Oude Noorde, Rotterdam 2022 (excerpt)

Samples: Tisa Neža Herlec (singing) & sonic “found objects” collected online

Schouwburg De Lawei, Drachten 2022 (Stroomopwarts residency finnisage)